My invention relates generally to fasteners. Specifically, my invention is a reusable fastener that quickly attaches one mechanical member to another and allows the members' later quick detachment.
My fastener has a tubular barrel disposed along the fastener's longitudinal axis and a plunger translatable fore and aft in the barrel. The plunger defines a flat trapezoidal through slot and a second, elongate slot intersects the trapezoidal slot. A pivot pin in the barrel extends through the elongate slot. The pin's pivot axis is fixed relative to the longitudinal axis and at least one arm swings on this pivot axis between a retracted, forward position and a deployed aft oriented position. During the retracted position no part of the arm is outside the barrel, and during the deployed position the arm extends out from the barrel. The plunger has an arm engagement portion facing aft toward the arm, and a spring biases the plunger forward; by forward motion of the plunger, the arm is urged toward the deployed position. Another, arm engagement portion of the plunger faces forward and opposes the arm. Translating the plunger aft causes this other engagement portion to swing the arm to the retracted position.
Typically, in the deployed position the arm has a tapered free or swingable end. This end fits to a barrel surface which is oblique to the longitudinal axis. In one embodiment of the fastener, the arm's free end is more rearward of the fastener than the pin during the arm's deployed position. The fastener may have a stud of the plunger passing through the fastener's aft end together with means for adjustably fixing the stud to the aft end. The fixing means comprisies a flexible plate on the aft end and a plate's edge interfering with the stud.